Securities

  • March 22, 2024

    DLA Piper Lands McMillan Hong Kong Office Leader

    DLA Piper has hired for its cross-border capital markets practice an experienced attorney who formerly led McMillan LLP's Hong Kong office and was co-chair of the firm's China practice group.

  • March 22, 2024

    5 Things To Know As SEC Takes Terraform Fraud Case To Trial

    The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's suit against collapsed cryptocurrency project Terraform and its creator Do Kwon takes center stage next week in U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff's courtroom in Manhattan, and at its heart is a question of whether the business deceived investors in the lead-up to the collapse that helped set off the so-called crypto winter.

  • March 22, 2024

    87-Year-Old Billionaire Lewis Seeks No Jail For Insider Trading

    Lawyers for British billionaire Joe Lewis have asked a Manhattan federal judge not to impose any prison time after his plea to insider trading, saying a term of probation is appropriate because the 87-year-old is "nearing the end of life in declining health."

  • March 22, 2024

    Del. Courts Examining 'Colonoscopy'-Like Bylaw Rules

    Invasive advance-notice bylaws that some observers say make shareholder board nominations as intrusive as a "colonoscopy" are reviving old questions in Delaware courts about how far boards can go to protect themselves against shareholder activism.

  • March 22, 2024

    Trump Wins Investor Approval Of Truth Social SPAC Deal

    Digital World Acquisition Corp. shareholders on Friday approved a proposal to acquire former President Donald Trump's social media platform, setting in motion long-delayed plans to take Trump's startup public despite unresolved litigation tied to the merger.

  • March 21, 2024

    SEC's 'Shadow Trading' Trial To Test Insider Info Boundaries

    If the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission can convince jurors hearing its first-ever "shadow trading" case next week to find a former executive in the wrong for buying up a competitor's securities while having insider information about his own company, the floodgates could open to civil and criminal prosecution of other corporate insiders under the novel legal theory, attorneys told Law360.

  • March 21, 2024

    Silvergate Must Face Investor Suit Over FTX Ties, Judge Says

    The now-defunct Silvergate Bank and its CEO must face a proposed class action brought by customers of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, a California federal judge ruled Wednesday, finding that Silvergate owed a duty to FTX customers and that its conduct harmed them.

  • March 21, 2024

    Chemours Faces Investor Suit Over Alleged Exec Misconduct

    Chemical company The Chemours Co. and four of its current and former executives face claims they hurt investors by manipulating a certain financial metric so the executives might receive greater compensation under the company's incentive plans.

  • March 21, 2024

    Autonomy Jury Hears Of 'Handshake Deal' To Pad Revenue

    A onetime Autonomy Corp. customer took the stand Thursday in the California federal criminal trial of former CEO Michael Lynch, describing a "handshake" deal to pay the company $7.5 million with the understanding the funds would be returned — part of an alleged plot to fraudulently inflate Autonomy's revenues.

  • March 21, 2024

    Ill. Judge Leaves Outcome Health Execs' Convictions Intact

    An Illinois federal judge said Thursday that he wouldn't disturb three former Outcome Health executives' convictions for carrying out a massive billion-dollar fraud scheme to grow their health advertising business, saying the jury heard enough evidence to support its verdict.

  • March 21, 2024

    Sen. Warren Wants SEC To Probe Musk Control Of Tesla Board

    Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday to investigate whether Tesla's board of directors is independent from CEO Elon Musk, saying recent reports suggest the billionaire controls the board for his personal benefit.

  • March 21, 2024

    Chief Of Bogus PE Firm Gets 6 Years For $10M Affinity Fraud

    The Colorado-based CEO of a purported investment firm faces nearly six years in prison after pleading guilty to securities fraud in connection with a $10.4 million scheme targeting West Point grads and involving claims he planned to invest in a trio of Italian cycling companies.

  • March 21, 2024

    $114M Discord Stock Case Tossed Ahead Of Jury Trial

    A Texas federal judge has dismissed a 21-count indictment against seven men accused of operating a multimillion-dollar "pump-and-dump" stock scheme over social media platform Discord two weeks before they were set to be tried before a jury, writing that the government's case was unable to survive two recent appellate court decisions that reined in corruption prosecutions.

  • March 21, 2024

    CymaBay Investor Sues For Books On $4.3B Gilead Merger

    A shareholder of liver disease-focused biopharmaceutical company CymaBay Therapeutics Inc. sued the company in Delaware Chancery Court to extract more information over a proposed $4.3 billion merger with Gilead Sciences Inc., saying CymaBay has refused to hand over previously requested documents regarding the valuation analyses without a legitimate excuse.

  • March 21, 2024

    Healthcare Co. Beats Suit Over TDF Funds' Performance

    A California federal judge granted a win to a healthcare company and its investment adviser in a class action challenging what former workers claim are shoddy target-date-funds included in the company's 401(k) plan, saying the funds at issue performed better than comparable investments.

  • March 21, 2024

    Unabomber Prosecutor To Probe FTX's Sullivan & Cromwell Ties

    The Delaware bankruptcy court overseeing the Chapter 11 case of FTX Trading Ltd. has approved the appointment of a former federal prosecutor, whose experience includes work on the Unabomber case, to delve into accusations Sullivan & Cromwell is conflicted as debtor's counsel.

  • March 21, 2024

    Pot Co. Seller Says Chancery Must Decide Curaleaf Dispute

    A court needs to determine which corporate records Curaleaf Holdings Inc. should turn over in its $13 million price adjustment dispute with the seller of a multistate cannabis dispensary before it goes before an independent accountant, the seller told Delaware's Court of Chancery on Thursday.

  • March 21, 2024

    Robins Kaplan, Funding Firm Must Pay Sanctions, Court Told

    An investment firm has urged a New York state appellate court to uphold a $156,000 sanction levied against a litigation funding firm and its counsel from Robins Kaplan LLP over the law firm's access to the opposing party's Dropbox account, saying a trial court acted within its discretion in imposing the sanction.

  • March 21, 2024

    3rd Circ. Agrees Investors Have No Case Against Vax Maker

    The Third Circuit on Thursday upheld a Pennsylvania federal judge's ruling that a putative class of investors alleging biopharmaceutical company Ocugen Inc. made misleading statements about its ability to quickly produce a COVID-19 vaccine failed to state a claim against the company.

  • March 21, 2024

    DOL Urges 5th Circ. To Back Biden Admin. ESG Investing Rule

    The U.S. Department of Labor urged the Fifth Circuit on Thursday to uphold a rule allowing retirement advisers to consider social issues such as climate change when choosing investments, arguing that conservative states challenging the rule haven't shown it defies federal benefits law.

  • March 21, 2024

    12 Ex-Constantine Cannon Attys Launch Whistleblower Firm

    A dozen attorneys who have represented whistleblowers from Facebook, Theranos and Boeing have left Constantine Cannon LLP to form their own stand-alone boutique to support whistleblowers and boost corporate accountability globally, according to a Thursday announcement.

  • March 21, 2024

    8th Circ. Wins SEC Climate Rule Litigation Lottery

    The wave of cases against the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's recently finalized climate disclosure rules will be consolidated and proceed in the Eighth Circuit, the U.S. Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation ordered Thursday, after the agency requested a random draw.

  • March 21, 2024

    Activist Investor Rips 'Misguided' Strategy Of WisdomTree

    Activist investor ETFS Capital on Thursday urged shareholders of WisdomTree to withhold their votes from the asset management firm's board members at an upcoming shareholder meeting due to the company's "failed diversification strategy" and refusal to initiate a strategic review process.

  • March 21, 2024

    Ex-OneCoin Attorney Says 1 Year In Prison Is Enough

    A Bulgarian woman who held the title of legal and compliance executive at the fraudulent OneCoin cryptocurrency exchange asked a Manhattan federal judge to credit her for the year she'd spent in prison in harsh conditions and not sentence her to any more jail time.

  • March 21, 2024

    Chancery Denies Icahn Midcase Appeal In Illumina Board Suit

    Carl Icahn can't interrupt his Chancery Court lawsuit against biotech Illumina Inc.'s board to appeal a decision about redactions to the Delaware Supreme Court, a vice chancellor ruled Wednesday, saying there are no "exceptional circumstances" that call for a midcase review.

Expert Analysis

  • General Counsel Need Data Literacy To Keep Up With AI

    Author Photo

    With the rise of accessible and powerful generative artificial intelligence solutions, it is imperative for general counsel to understand the use and application of data for myriad important activities, from evaluating the e-discovery process to monitoring compliance analytics and more, says Colin Levy at Malbek.

  • A Tale Of 2 SVB Reports: Where The Fed's Barr And OIG Differ

    Author Photo

    Some have said the recent report on Silicon Valley Bank's failure prepared by the Federal Reserve Board's Office of Inspector General is nearly identical to one conducted by Vice Chair for Supervision Michael Barr earlier in the year, but in reality, the OIG report is far more critical and less forgiving of the Fed supervisory staff, say attorneys at Davis Polk.

  • Tips For Avoiding Disputes From M&A Earnout Provisions

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Freshfields review key Delaware cases to outline several important considerations that may reduce the risk of an earnout dispute arising from a merger agreement and help the parties navigate disputes when they do occur.

  • Del. Dispatch: Refining M&A Terms After Twitter Investor Suit

    Author Photo

    The Delaware Court of Chancery's recent decision in Crispo v. Musk — invalidating a merger agreement provision that has been commonly used to disincentivize buyers from wrongful merger termination — should cause target companies to consider new approaches to ensure the payment of lost premium damages, say attorneys at Fried Frank.

  • Navigating Discovery Of Generative AI Information

    Author Photo

    As generative artificial intelligence tools become increasingly ubiquitous, companies must make sure to preserve generative AI data when there is reasonable expectation of litigation, and to include transcripts in litigation hold notices, as they may be relevant to discovery requests, say Nick Peterson and Corey Hauser at Wiley.

  • Finding Focus: Strategies For Attorneys With ADHD

    Author Photo

    Given the prevalence of ADHD among attorneys, it is imperative that the legal community gain a better understanding of how ADHD affects well-being, and that resources and strategies exist for attorneys with this disability to manage their symptoms and achieve success, say Casey Dixon at Dixon Life Coaching and Krista Larson at Stinson.

  • A Look At DOJ's New Nationwide Investment Fraud Approach

    Author Photo

    Investment fraud charges are increasingly being brought in unlikely venues across the country, and the rationale behind the U.S. Department of Justice's approach could well be the heightened legal standards in connection with prosecuting investment fraud, says Jonathan Porter at Husch Blackwell.

  • Decoding The Digital Asset Landscape In Bankruptcy

    Author Photo

    Recent cases show the explosion of cryptocurrency as an asset class has created new challenges for debtors-in-possession, bankruptcy trustees, and federal and state receivers, and fiduciaries will have to consider a number of legal and practical considerations when determining how to manage these assets in insolvency, say David Castleman at Otterbourg and Anthony Facciano at Stretto.

  • AI Use May Trigger False Claims Act's Public Disclosure Bar

    Author Photo

    The likely use of publicly available artificial intelligence tools to detect government fraud by combing through large data sets will raise complex questions about a False Claims Act provision that prohibits the filing of claims based on previously disclosed information, say Nick Peterson and Spencer Brooks at Wiley Rein.

  • Keeping Tabs On Fight Over Board Diversity Rule At 5th Circ.

    Author Photo

    Attorneys at Mintz dissect why the Fifth Circuit rejected a constitutional challenge to Nasdaq’s new requirement that listed companies disclose board diversity data, assess how a petition calling the decision pro-discrimination may fare, and discuss where companies that have yet to meet the exchange's diversity goals go next.

  • What To Expect From California's Digital Assets Regime

    Author Photo

    California’s recent passage of two new laws that create a broad licensing, oversight and enforcement framework for the virtual currency arena will likely affect most digital asset companies doing business in the U.S. when it goes into effect in January 2025, say attorneys at Jenner & Block.

  • Why SEC Is Worried AI Could Lead To Recession, Racial Bias

    Author Photo

    U.S. Securities Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler recently indicated he believes the agency should have a seat at the artificial intelligence regulatory table, which he said, if left unchecked, could lead to systemic racial bias, IP issues and even a recession, says Nancy Wojtas at Cooley.

  • How Shareholder Activists Are Targeting Insurers

    Author Photo

    As shareholder activists take a closer look at the insurance industry, they are pushing insurers to take value-enhancing and climate-related measures — but insurers can prepare by anticipating activist concerns, maintaining robust shareholder engagement, and considering changes in response to the universal proxy rules, say attorneys at Debevoise.

  • New CFTC Enforcement Policy May Finally Deter Recidivists

    Author Photo

    The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s recently announced policies designed to crack down on market misconduct recidivists may finally raise the stakes enough to motivate institutions to improve their compliance infrastructure, say Dan Chirlin and Marc Armas at Walden Macht.

  • 5th Circ. Ruling May Beget Fraud Jury Instruction Appeals

    Author Photo

    The Fifth Circuit’s recent U.S. v. Greenlaw decision, disapproving disjunctive fraudulent-intent jury instructions, will likely spawn appeals in mail, wire and securities fraud cases, but defendants must show that their deception furthered ends other than taking the victim's property, says Charles Fowler at McKool Smith.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Securities archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!